Thankfulness

I am doing well. I have had an enjoyable time outwest visiting family and friends.  It is time I go back to work!
The Lord has been so merciful towards me; teaching me, leading me and blessing me.  This has been a time of renewing.  THANK YOU FATHER in Jesus' name. amen

I receive a daily journal entry from 'Papi'  Mike Clarke who is in Guatemala and has an Orphanage there called; Casa on the Rock.... http://www.casaontherock.org/  if you want to check it out.

Below are two days journal entries on THANKFULNESS or UNthankfulness.  It is so to the heart of it that I wanted to share it with my readers too.  I copied and pasted so forgive me for that.

May our Lord bless you as read; :) 
In His grace;
Kim


Sundays journal entry:
What is the worst possible attitude that a Christian could possess? INGRATITUDE! In Luke 17 Christ shares a parable of ten lepers being healed and only one, a ½ breed Samaritan, returned to thank Jesus. It is difficult for me to understand how anyone could not say thanks for such a tremendous miracle of healing.

Romans 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful”. This is a sin of the unsaved! The unsaved are ungrateful! But shouldn’t you and I be so very grateful for salvation and the opportunities God has given us. You know why Thanksgiving Day is so difficult? Christmas is coming!!! We QUIT thanking God for what we HAVE and begin thinking of what we WANT!

2 Timothy 3:1 “This know also, that in the LAST DAYS perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, UNTHANKFUL…” You and I do not need many signs that the end is near. This scripture gives a few reasons we know it is the end times and one of them is that people are ungrateful/unthankful. My goodness we live in a world of ENTITLEMENT! God has blessed us so much we just think that we deserve it and even more. Satisfaction is a thing of the past. People are becoming more wicked and less thankful.

I Thess 5:18 “In everything give thanks for that is the will of God for you”. Are you one of those folks that say “I wonder what God’s will is for me”. START HERE!! THANK HIM!!
Oh how tired I get when I am around folks who are stressed out, dissatisfied, depressed or unhappy about their circumstances. Look at Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Quit Worrying and Give Thanks is the message here. What about Colossians 4:2 “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving”. Pray and Give Thanks.

Both scriptures are self-explanatory. Do not worry, pray and give thanks?

1. An unthankful person may not be saved.
2. An unthankful person can forget that God is all powerful & can change every situation.
3. Selfishness (Worldliness) An unthankful person is concerned about his will, not God’s.
4. An unthankful person is normally a critical person. This is a desire to control everything.
5. An ungrateful person s normally impatient. We want to control the time. Cannot wait.
6. An ungrateful person is normally lukewarm. Jesus is not the most important Person in their live.
7. An ungrateful person is often rebellious. Bitterness is the source of rebellion.

Mondays journal entry:
I closed yesterday with the answer to ungratefulness. That is CONTENTMENT! Do you know what causes us to not be grateful? First I believe that is when we seek over abundance. How much is enough? Rockefeller said “Just a little more”. It is apparent in the world we live in that people are more concerned about possessions than they are about being thankful.

Second, I believe that one of the greatest dangers to gratitude is the lack of contentment. Years ago in Lafayette Dottie and I cared for a very precious young girl from Weatherford Texas who was Jerry Lewis’s very first child on his first telethon for muscular dystrophy. She was wheel chair bound and could do nothing for herself. She and her parents asked if she could live with us. Dottie cared for her by bathing, dressing, cleaning and loving her. We had to move and the weather was cold & sleeting. We wrapped her up and I drove her to the new place. I made a number of trips carrying our possessions and on one trip Dottie announced that lunch was ready. I sat in front of the fireplace and murmured about the weather. This 19 year old paralyzed, dying girl looked at me and said “Brother Mike, Jesus says that if we have food and clothing we are blessed”. ( I Timothy 6:8) I was so embarrassed and less than 3 months later we buried her. Until this very day I have not heard a better, more powerful sermon.

Third, I believe that we are a selfish world and giving gratitude is difficult because we simply want more and ore and more and more and more. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones had a #1 hit song in 1965 entitled “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”. That is true for the world. There is no satisfaction. The world will die with empty hands and more sadly they will have empty hearts.

And lastly, I believe that we fail to express gratitude because of self-indulgence. Me! Me! Me! That is the cry of the modern world. What is in it for me? What can I gather? What will you give me? What can you do for me? Our closets are filled with clothes that we will never wear.

Porverbs 15:16 says “Blessed is LITTLE with the FEAR of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.” Fear of the Lord means honoring God.

A little girl was in class when her teacher asked the children to name the Seven Wonders of the World. Answers flew towards the teacher such as Taj Majal, Great Wall of China, Panama Canal, Pyramids, etc. The teacher noticed the little girl did not participate so she asked her specifically to name the 7 wonders and the little girl answered “ To Touch, to Taste, to See, to Hear…….she hesitated, thought and then continued…..to Hope, To Laugh and to Love”.

Read tomorrow!