Grateful

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself the question: Where would I be without the Lord Jesus Christ in my life? For starters, let’s just think of Him as God and where you would be just as a human being without Him. First of all, there would be no beautiful earth and no beautiful you because He created this earth on which we live and He created us. He wanted us for His children. He wanted us to have a wonderful place to live. As I sit at my desk and look out the window at the changing fall colors, I am reminded of His great desire to bless me with vision to see what He has created. And I refuse to complain about lack of anything.

I am so grateful for ears to hear my dear husband’s voice and my son’s voice over the telephone many miles from me and that makes me thank God for Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone. And think what God has provided in these days; we have internet and cell phones and every means of communication possible. Perhaps some of you are saying: Listen, Kialeen, I would be grateful without some of them because of all the interruptions I get. Well, that is under your control. You don’t have to take every call and answer every email. Let the Lord prioritize for you. But most of all, I am grateful for spiritual ears to hear my Master’s voice when He tells me how much He loves me.

And then I think of how thankful I am to have a voice to answer my Master and tell Him how much I love Him. He has given me a voice to sing His praises and to worship Him. He has given me a voice to tell others about Him and to share with them how much He cares for them as well. And, yes, I am so grateful to have a voice to tell my loved ones how much I love them and how special they are in my life.

I have legs to walk and arms to move and hands to hold. I am grateful for my physical body which God has given me as a vehicle to be in this earth and accomplish what He has called me to do. And if some of you who are reading this Pearls of Wisdom may not have a part of your body that I mentioned, be thankful for what you do have. Once again, my dad is such an example to me. He has no hearing in one ear and no sight in one eye and as he gets older, he has to steady himself to get around, but he tells me every day how much he enjoyed his walk and what he saw along the way or how much pleasure he got out of watching a show on television with the closed caption turned on so he could read what they were saying. He continues to be thankful for what he does have. He truly enjoys the life God has given to him.

And most of all, Father, thank You for sending Jesus, Who is the Word manifest in the flesh, the living Word. You sent Your Word and healed me and delivered me from destruction. Thank You, Father for ordaining that Jesus would take my place for me before you ever created the world. You had everything planned for me, for the time when I would be born. You knew me before I was ever created in my mother’s womb.

I am so grateful for a Savior and a Redeemer, a God Who cared enough for me to take on my sins and sicknesses and diseases and all that would tackle me on this earth. Thank You, Jesus, for becoming sin for me that I might become righteous. Thank You, Jesus, for bearing my sicknesses, diseases and pains so that I do not have to bear them. Thank You, Jesus, for taking the chastisement for my peace that I might have peace and walk in wholeness in every area of my life. Thank You, Jesus, for taking my place as my substitute on the cross so that I would not have to go to hell. Oh, thank You, Lord, for all that you did for me.

And thank You, Holy Spirit, for continuing the work that Jesus started in me. Thank You for dwelling in my mortal body and giving life to my mortal body and teaching me how to live and how to think and how to speak to bring about the Kingdom of God living in my home. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for leading me every day, telling me when to be quiet and when to speak and who to minister to. I am so grateful. Thank You.

You fill in the blank the rest of the evening. Let’s learn how to develop grateful hearts, even in the midst of difficulties and trouble. We must learn to have attitudes of gratitude. Gratitude, gratefulness, thankfulness releases the joy and love and Presence of God in our lives. It gives Him something to work with. He is able to take care of situations on our behalf. It doesn’t take any effort to be thankful. Let’s purpose in our hearts to do just that the rest of the evening and the rest of tomorrow, one day at a time, until we are truly rejoicing for Who we serve and Who He is. And people will notice. And they will want to know how you can be the way you are in the middle of what is happening. And you can tell them. What a tool of evangelism. Gratefulness is the greatest tool of evangelism God has given you. More of us need to realize that.

What are you grateful for today?