Dec 17th, 2020: Christmas Blessing - Having a Thankful Heart

 21 Gratitude Bible Verses for Giving Thanks to God

My drive home from Lethbridge is helpful sometimes for me to think about what God has been doing around me and within me. Sometimes it is exciting. Sometimes it is apprehensive. One thing for sure is that I can see things more clearly when I have the time alone with Him.


I think about people that God has placed in my life. I am thankful for the gifts that they have in revealing God's beauty. I am deeply aware of the struggles that they have had to work through and their faithdulness in dealing with them. I am grateful for the time I have had with them because it tells me how God is at work.


I think about the many experiences I have had with God. Sometimes I experience His care by letting Him be my God. Sometimes I feel His presence by allowing others to be with me. I sense his power when I reach out to care for others by faith. I am aware of His pain when I am willing to take the risk to walk with others in suffering.


I think about my own life and its meaning. Sometimes I wonder where I would be without God, and that terrifies me. I might be able to have a lot more of what the world has to offer while experiencing an immense emptiness. The kind of emptiness that one has in walking through life while remembering nothing at the end.


I am indeed thankful for God's presence and the presence of many others in my life.


"Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods." - Psalm 95:2-3

Popular posts from this blog

Aug 31st, 2024: Confession

Image
Dealing with pain sometimes affects our ability and flexibility. A physiotherapist friend gave me a set of home exercises to help with that. They are simple yet intense at the same time. Dealing with our human brokenness sometimes affects our ability to see and hear God. Our commitment to spiritual disciplines must be at the core of our relationship with God. One of the disciplines I have been trying to embrace more fully is confession. It’s not just about recognizing where we have gone wrong; it’s about how we have chosen to live our lives independently from God. It’s about whether we truly want God to be part of our lives. The absence of meaningful confession will damage our freedom to experience intimacy with God. "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." - Proverbs 28:13
Read more

Sept 4th, 2024: Praying in Images

Image
It has been a rough few days. Living in immense pain does not allow us much energy to think about anything. I ended up praying in images, and not many words came out of my mouth. Most of the images were of people I know. God knew that I was praying for them as their faces came to my mind. I did not need to mention the circumstances or situations of their lives—He knows. My heart was at peace as I ended my days with these images. He will take care of my body, and I know this because I was able to get some sleep. Tomorrow is in His hands.
Read more

Oct 1st, 2022: Be With Those Who Suffer

Image
  Listening to a young woman who shared her experience of being raped repeatedly by a family member for over four years as a teenager made my heart ache. The man who did that was a leader of a church. He was imprisoned for seven months and released. He was her stepfather. Her mother chose to pick him over her after his release. Her life has changed forever. She had to go to a foster home. Her foster parents helped her with her restoration and her faith in God. Her supervisor at work asked me to see her because someone at work was inappropriate toward her. That triggered many emotions within her. I did not expect the story I heard from her. The meeting took longer than I thought, and it was toward the end of the day. She kept talking about her anger and the pain she felt when men treated her like a subject. I knew that the best I could do was to listen. She told me she had not been able to tell anyone as much as with me. God reminded me of the true calling of being a pas...
Read more