Attitude of Gratitude - I am “blessed!”

It’s hard to believe we are entering into Thanksgiving already with Christmas just around the corner!   It feels like we just had summer and now entering into winter.  Somewhere along the way it feels like we skipped spring and fall (key word “feels”)?!  How we feel is not always reliable.  Our emotions are on the mountain top one moment and the next in the valley.  The holidays are not always filled with good feelings either, due to in part our past, present state or our lose of loved ones.  For those that fight depression the holidays are especially hard.  But whether you fight depression or not, we tend to focus on the negatives in our life, or what we don’t have or are missing.  Instead we should focus on the positives, or what we do have like: food, water, shelter, clothing, a warm bath, family, our health, etc…But even these things can be taken in a moment. 

One of the many delusions of our day is what it means to be truly “blessed.”  There is the worlds view and then there is the view of the Savior of mankind - Jesus.

 Jesus knowing what was ahead for His disciples, and us, He set down with them the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5 and taught them the true meaning of the word “blessed” (Greek makarious - meaning “Happy”, “to be envied”, “a declaration of blessedness”).  Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…those that mourn…the meek..those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…the merciful…the pure in heart…the peacemakers…those who are persecuted for righteousness sake…when all kinds of evil spoken against you falsely for My sake…”   Jesus says, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven!”  You see, true blessedness focuses on the “BIG” picture -  an eternal perspective.  We are all fast approaching eternity and the time to prepare is NOW!   Only as we have an eternal perspective can we truly experience happiness in this life.  “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

I pray that you experience a “Blessed” Thanksgiving this year!

And “the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6: 24-26)

Pastor Rodney