My Beautiful Life: Day 25

God is Always Moving

To give thanksgiving unto God we must recognize His hand in our lives. The hand of God is not speaking of a literal body part. Just as a father lovingly guides, helps, and patiently disciplines a child with his hand, so are we guided by the hand of God in different circumstances in our lives. What blessings has He given to you? What miracles has He led you to? It is easy to recognize a miracle when someone walks up to you and gives you an envelope full of money. But what about the miracle of life? What about the blessing of having a meal to eat every night? We have to train ourselves to see God moving in our lives in order to truly be grateful for all that He has done. A great idea is to get out a piece of paper and literally number your blessings one by one. As you count your blessings be specific. Name individual family members and friends. Think of your life, health, home, city, and country. Ask yourself what  exactly about your home or country is a blessing? How about your skills, talents, education, and job? Think about those times that seemed like a "coincidence". Did you overlook God's hand moving in your life? Did you think of God's greatest gift to us, His Son, Jesus Christ? You will be amazed at how many blessings you truly have. The more we recognize the hand of God, the better we will be able to follow His lead. Even you are not powerful enough to stop God’s plan for your life. Nothing can snatch you out of God’s hand; no accident or opinion of another can stop God’s plan. God is in complete control of your life. God is working behind the scenes, arranging things in your favor; He’s making a way where you don’t see a way. His hand is always moving in your life, even when you don't see immediate results. All you have to do is keep God first place in your life. Honor Him with your life, and you will come into these destiny moments where you see God supernaturally protecting you, where you’re at the right place at the right time, and experiencing the favor of God moving you towards your divine destiny. It’s not your lucky break, it’s almighty God saying, “I’ve got a destiny for you to fulfill, My plan will come to pass.” Through the study of God’s Word, a strong prayer life, and an having trust in God, we can learn to recognize quickly the hand of God moving in our lives. When you are able to recognize all that He has done, you can easily accept and begin to show thanksgiving towards God for all that he has done.

John 10:27-28

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

A Prayer for Today

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for trying to run my life my own way. I forget to let go and give you control. When I wonder why things aren't going the way I want them to go, help me to remember you. Help me to stop and ask what you want, Lord. Please help me to give you control, Father. I want to have what You desire for me. Lord, let me accept each day as a gift. Let me follow the path You choose for me. Help me to be thankful for what you give me and not to worry about my needs. I trust you will take care of all my needs. I m confident that You have a plan for my life. Remind me daily that my role is to trust and obey You.

Amen

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.