How do I really thank God?

It has been a rambling thought... How do I thank God?

I mean there are times when my heart just overflows with gratitude and I look around for amazing ways to show him how thankful I am. Ever feel that way? The sweet baby? A miraculous healing? An answered prayer? Maybe it's a sunset that blows your mind - and all you want to do is thank him.

I've not come up with the answer to my question. Nothing seems adequate.

In today's Bible time, I read Psalm 116, and David asks this same question. What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?, David ponders in verse 12.  Indeed, what shall I return, for I have nothing. Everything in my life is God's. He allows me to love my children and husband, but they are his.  He allows me to use his money, but it's his. He graciously lets me see a peek of the splendor he created in the heavens, but it's not mine.  Humbling, isn't it? Homelesss, penniless, yet proud.  Not words I would choose if you asked me to describe myself.

I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. In verses 13 and 14 David raises his cup in acknowledgment and thanksgiving, and he continues to call on the Lord.  He doesn't stop asking God for blessings - he wants all that God has in store for him.  He then states that he will obey God and continue to serve him. I'm in awe by this point because I finally have an answer!


It's so simple, isn't it?  It all goes back to God. I've once again tried to make it about me, but it's about God.  All he wants is for me to thank him, to obey him and to rely on him as my constant provider.  He is the giver of all good things and , I mean nothing, I do or say can even come close to being enough. In his grace, he just asks for a humble whisper from the depths of my soul.  "'Thank you, my Lord."

Listening to what I hear

It's a typical day in the new reality of having a start-up business.  Trying to keep focused on the tasks at hand like paying bills, taking care of HR, and correct journal entries, while doing laundry, preparing dinner, cleaning the house, honoring church commitments and spending time with the Lord.

And it's there, at the bottom of my list, that I find solace every day. God designed us to need to refuel with him every day. Satan tries to distract us with fatigue, over-sheduling and being task-oriented so that we ignore God. We set him aside for those things that are seemingly more important. Re-read that.  Yep, we do it, and it grieves our gracioius Father.

I'm taking a break to go over what I heard on the radio, read on my email devotionals, and glanced over as I skimmed a completed study. Here it goes: God wants us to cry out to him like David did.  It's how we put him first and give ourselves up to his mercy and grace.  When we remove God from our life, like at school, we fall away from him and into the devil's plan. God has an incredible plan for each of us, even when we can't see the whole picture. We must worship him, and we do this by doing everything for his glory and letting his light shine through us so that others see him.

So what am I to do with the daily messages that blow through my brain?  I finally realized that I will never be a perfect Christian. But when I study the Bible every day and spend quiet time with him, God is my focus and my reason for living.  I will have moments of revelation and moments of remembering.  It's about God working in my life and my honoring him.

Let us not feel guilty about not being productive when we spend time with God, alone in prayer and study.  Reframe it and think of how incredibly blessed we are to have a personal appearance with the King of Creation any time we want it.

Amen

Faithfulness

I don't know how to thank God.  There aren't enough words to express my immense gratitude for what he has done for me, and for what he does for me daily. I search the scriptures, looking for answers. And I find that it's me.  He wants me, everything I am, everything I have.  Every thought, every action, every word.

With this I write about his faithfulness. We read stories about God's faithfulness, from Genesis to Revelation. We often forget to take the time to reflect on our lives to see that nothing has changed. Why would it?!

We finally have a buyer for our house!  It has been two and a half years, and it looks like it will be sold.  We prayed about moving for a year. We finally decided to take a leap of faith and buy the house without selling ours first.  Three months went by, then six, nine. Wow!  At one year, God brought us a family to rent the house. They took care of it and loved it like their own.  What a blessing!

The year was up,  and we relisted the house. Six months later, it will be sold.  The buyers are so excited about it, and I am thrilled that they will be building a life in the house that holds so many precious memories for us.

This waiting represents so much for me.  I fasted and prayed for three and a half years to get to this point.  Sounds silly, doesn't it? For a house?  But it was about seeking God's will in my life.  It was about trusting him with everything I have.  I didn't stress about this because I knew God would provide and that I needed to trust in his plan. It taught me to pray in his timing, not mine.  It reinforced that praying and reading the Bible lead to taking the stories of his past faithfulness as truth in my life today.

So I am thankful for the house selling, but it's the rich blessing of knowing without a doubt that God is with me and caring for me that is the best. It is seeing that he is making me into more than I was before.Take time to see the Lord's faithfulness throughout your life and rejoice in his favor.

Fasting

It's the beginning of the year, and it's time to fast. What a joy it is to give up food for 21 days and focus on my relationship with God. This sounds so "out there" to many, but I know God calls me to fast through Scripture.


And during this time everything is accentuated - the lyrics floating from the radio pop are felt even more than usual. "You lead, I follow." "My hope is in You." "Sing until the whole world hears." "My deliverer, you rescued me from all that held me captive."


Of course, the fast food signs seem bigger, too!! But I know that my desire to obey God is stronger than my desire for fresh, hot, salty french fries. Really.

I saw how God answered my prayers during last year's fast. It wasn't how I had envisioned them being answered, but he provided in his time and in his way. He truly is an awesome God - he sustained me for 21 days without food, and he feeds my spirit every minute of the day

And so I think him with tears of gratitude because the words just aren't there. I am so overwhelmed when I look back through the years, and days, and his blessed provision in my life. Hands lifted up and a heart for him are all I can offer. And because he is God, it's enough. So I offer my fast to him - may these next couple of weeks please Jesus as I model his teaching and leading. Amen.