Tuesday, August 26, 2014

My Beautiful Life: Day 24

He Deserves Our Gratitude
When we are thankful for the goodness of God in our lives, it touches the very heart of God and encourages Him to shower even more blessings upon us. A thankful heart is truly a floodgate to the blessings and goodness of God in our lives! Let's say that you had a granddaughter, and you went out and bought her the prettiest dress in town. You spent thousands of dollars on it, and invested countless hours hunting to find the perfect dress. When you're all done, you gifted your granddaughter with her new surprise. She first screams with excitement and then she cries for joy, and gives you the biggest hug you've ever received. Then for the next month, she can't stop talking about how you surprised her, and she continually thanks you up and down for such a wonderful gift. When she wears the dress, her eyes light up from happiness. Wouldn't that make you feel good inside for blessing her in such a way? You would probably want to run out and do it all over again, just because she loved it so much and was so thankful for everything you did. Now consider if you went through all that work to spend all that time and money to find the perfect dress for her, only to have your granddaughter act as if she couldn't care less for the gift you had given her. Never once did she show any appreciation, or thankfulness for all you've done. She didn't even stop to say thank you when you gave it to her. Wouldn't that make you feel awful? Wouldn't that make you think twice before blessing her in the future? How do you think God feels, when He's done so much for us (He made us, gave us such wonderful bodies and minds, then when we messed up, He sent His son to die for us, etc.), and then we go throughout the day not even stopping to think about all He's done for us? We're too busy watching TV, too busy complaining, and countless other things...that we don't even stop to think about all God's done for us. How do you think that makes God feel? The good thing is that God is not like us, and  He loves us despite of what we do or don't do. He shows mercy to us day after day, and He continues to bless us, even when we don't deserve it. Take time to show love to your Heavenly Father and thank Him for all that He has done for you. He deserves it. 

Psalm 86:15 
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.


A Prayer for Today

Thank You Heavenly Father for being patient with me. You continue to bless me with your grace and mercy when I don't deserve it. Please help me to show continuous gratitude toward you, and not take for granted my many blessings. Help me to have a thankful heart. You deserve all of my praise for all of the wonderful things you have done for me. 
Amen.