(no subject)
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Colossians 2:7
… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Hebrews 12:28
… let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Hello,
Once again the “Weekly” comes to you in a not-so-weekly fashion, and I apologize for the delay. I hope you’ve been well and continuing to grow in faith, being stretched by God in real ways.
One of the things that has been humbling for me over not just the past few weeks, but for the past two months, is an incident regarding wedding gifts and cards. If you’re not married and hoping to one day, take heed: separating the cards from the gifts before they’re opened makes it terribly difficult to write thank you cards properly. My husband and I didn’t think about this until after the deed had already been done - and many of you attended my wedding, so I apologize for improperly thanking you for gifts!!
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that it currently makes me think of the ultimate Gift and not properly thanking the Giver (not to be confused with a certain book). Last I wrote, I mentioned my own need to focus on the freedom of Christ more than my focus on the gravity of my sin. If you’re able to relate to that sentiment, this is much along the same lines… I’ve found that to focus on Christ more, I should learn to be more thankful for the salvation He’s given. There are many things that I’m worried about that I forget to be grateful for what I already have; it’s not that I forget that I have it but worry certainly clouds gratitude. I take things for granted because I’m trying to figure out how/when I’m going to get something I don’t have yet. For instance, it’s easy to take for granted that I have food in my home right now when I worry about how things might shape up in the next several months because I can’t see into the future. However, having what I need right now in the moment is something God has made possible and I have to stop myself, pause and be thankful… Gratitude and remembering that the Lord provides is actually helpful in dissipating the worry I struggle with. Many times throughout the New Testament, God’s people are exhorted to be thankful and perhaps the reason why is because it helps us to focus on NOW and not TOMORROW, and it helps us to focus on God and not ourselves.
In a similar way, salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit is a phenomenal thing that sometimes I’m not thankful for when I don’t see it in action. I also don’t think to be thankful for it when I’m wrestling with sin and wondering when in the world it will be over. However, day by day we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit; why shouldn’t we praise God for it every day? God is continually at work, even when we don’t see the work in action… and especially through difficult times. This is where we need to pause and be grateful for the salvation we have. It will probably help to develop a better focus on Christ more than anything else.
If you see a little bit of this kind of attitude in yourself we can be praying for one another… that we would learn to have grateful attitudes towards God (and also towards people!), and that we would praise Him for the awesome salvation that we have in Christ. I also pray that we can all learn to be all the more grateful overall, developing more sensitivity to what God is doing in our world and be compassionate to those around us. We all have amazing gifts to be thankful for.
Love in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Colossians 2:7
… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Hebrews 12:28
… let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Hello,
Once again the “Weekly” comes to you in a not-so-weekly fashion, and I apologize for the delay. I hope you’ve been well and continuing to grow in faith, being stretched by God in real ways.
One of the things that has been humbling for me over not just the past few weeks, but for the past two months, is an incident regarding wedding gifts and cards. If you’re not married and hoping to one day, take heed: separating the cards from the gifts before they’re opened makes it terribly difficult to write thank you cards properly. My husband and I didn’t think about this until after the deed had already been done - and many of you attended my wedding, so I apologize for improperly thanking you for gifts!!
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that it currently makes me think of the ultimate Gift and not properly thanking the Giver (not to be confused with a certain book). Last I wrote, I mentioned my own need to focus on the freedom of Christ more than my focus on the gravity of my sin. If you’re able to relate to that sentiment, this is much along the same lines… I’ve found that to focus on Christ more, I should learn to be more thankful for the salvation He’s given. There are many things that I’m worried about that I forget to be grateful for what I already have; it’s not that I forget that I have it but worry certainly clouds gratitude. I take things for granted because I’m trying to figure out how/when I’m going to get something I don’t have yet. For instance, it’s easy to take for granted that I have food in my home right now when I worry about how things might shape up in the next several months because I can’t see into the future. However, having what I need right now in the moment is something God has made possible and I have to stop myself, pause and be thankful… Gratitude and remembering that the Lord provides is actually helpful in dissipating the worry I struggle with. Many times throughout the New Testament, God’s people are exhorted to be thankful and perhaps the reason why is because it helps us to focus on NOW and not TOMORROW, and it helps us to focus on God and not ourselves.
In a similar way, salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit is a phenomenal thing that sometimes I’m not thankful for when I don’t see it in action. I also don’t think to be thankful for it when I’m wrestling with sin and wondering when in the world it will be over. However, day by day we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit; why shouldn’t we praise God for it every day? God is continually at work, even when we don’t see the work in action… and especially through difficult times. This is where we need to pause and be grateful for the salvation we have. It will probably help to develop a better focus on Christ more than anything else.
If you see a little bit of this kind of attitude in yourself we can be praying for one another… that we would learn to have grateful attitudes towards God (and also towards people!), and that we would praise Him for the awesome salvation that we have in Christ. I also pray that we can all learn to be all the more grateful overall, developing more sensitivity to what God is doing in our world and be compassionate to those around us. We all have amazing gifts to be thankful for.
Love in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne