THANKFULNESS.

THANKFULNESS.

 

I am now sitting with a broken bone and a toe in the right foot. I am using a cast and walk on crutches. This is a very new situation for me and it is not so easy to walk with crutches. I say that it is not so easy to learn an old dog new tricks. Have you ever thought of how you shall carry a cup of coffee from one room to another with two crutches? No, you will probably say. These kinds of small problems become like big problems now. I place my mobile in a purse around my neck and place a small table beside my chair when I watch television. I will save you from all the details of my everyday life, but I am aware that I have taken a lot of things in life for granted.

I am blessed with good friends and people are coming and have called to offer their help. I can now see what kind of friends I have. I am very thankful both to God and to them. I have been thinking about the Body of Christ. We are all having different talents and gifts, but together we make one body. I have surprised myself by being able to accept the help of others. I am so used to take care of myself or helpings others. I guess that we all can come in situations in life when we need help in one way or the other. Don’t hesitate to ask for it. God has created us as a family and He wants us to be there for each other. God has said that we should love each other and that could also mean that we should help each other in practical ways.

In 1. Thessalonians 5:18 it says that we should give thanks under all circumstances. I do not thank the devil for his doings. Some people are misinterpreting this verse and think that we should thank for the demonic, but there is always something that we can thank the Lord for even under bad circumstances. I am today thanking for friends, for doctors, for a good place to live, food and water and for living in a country without war. I give thanks for the spiritual fellowship in my church and prayer-groups. I thank the Lord for my daughters and that they walk with Him. I thank the Lord for taking my sins and for being with me every day. I am thankful for all the promises in the Bible and now I need the verse saying: In His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) I thank the Lord for our relationship. Just think that I can talk to the One creating heaven and earth at any time. He is always available and He has promised to answer me. He is very pleased when I come to Him. I am a child of the Most High and I can call Him daddy. That is an intimate relationship.

Are you a thankful person or do you have something to complain about all the time? The apostle Paul says that he has had more than enough and he has been in lack, but he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. It’s all about our focus. After I have hurt myself, I feel ashamed for all the things that I have taken for granted. Are you thankful for your wife or husband? Do you take your children and friends for granted? Paul is writing that he is thanking God for his friends and co-workers.. Do you tell people around you how much you love them? I can almost hear some of you saying all the negative things about the people around you. Maybe you are right, but what have you dome about it? Have you talked to them about it? There are times when we need to brake a relationship. but do it in love and forgiveness.

Forgiveness and thankfulness belong together. They are just as important.

We have different ways of expressing thankfulness. Once when I was a child, I got a doll that could sleep. I got so happy that I could not say a word and my aunt thought that I didn’t like the doll. My mother had to tell her that it was the opposite. I can assure you that I am not that way today. It is important that we  know our different ways of expressing thankfulness in order to avoid misunderstanding. We are also talking about different ways of expressing love. It somehow goes together. Some are showing their thankfulness by using words. Others are running towards you to hug you. I might cry out of thankfulness. I certainly did that when my daughter was healed from bone tumor. Our emotions can be activated when we are thankful.

Many Christian songs are made by thankful people. We are singing songs of thankfulness and praise and worship. When my daughters were small, we sang: “Dear God, all is good, thanks for everything that I have. You are good and you care for me……..  I have been singing “Thank You, Jesus” in different languages. The devil hates thankful people and it is therefore an important weapon to keep him away. Let us praise the Lord.

I would recommend you as a parent to teach your children to look for things or events that they should be thankful for. Teach them to think over the good things that have happened during the day. I am not saying that they should not share the bad things, but they should get used to look for the good things as well.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU JESUS!

Mother Else