The Power in an Attitude of Gratitude

If asked, most Christians would tell you that they’d like to be closer to God. But wanting to doesn’t make it happen. So, how do we become intimate with the Lord and consistently enjoy fellowship with Him?

Several things come to mind, but our great-grandson Lennox just gave a perfect illustration of on Image result for Birthday Clip Art e simple way that is part of communing with the Lord. We celebrated his third birthday party on Saturday. Family and friends enjoyed a festive occasion with balloons, food, cupcakes, and a tantalizing stack of presents.

Opening the presents was the highlight of the day for everyone there, because Lennox was the model of gratefulness and graciousness. With each and every gift, as he ripped the paper off, his high anticipation was expressed in, “Ooooo!” or “Ahhhh!”

When the wrapping was off and the gift revealed, he exclaimed further, with comments such as, “Wow!” and “Look at that!” Several times, he held his prize up and panned the room with it so everybody could get a good look.

Many times the present just opened held such interest that he had to be pulled away to open the remaining gifts. Still, he was thrilled with each one and was quick to share his delight Image result for image of birthday presents . In response, the room filled with warm smiles, chuckles, and replies of “oooo.”

It never occurred to Lennox that there wasn’t something special inside each package. He knew that everybody loved him and wished the best for him. While he wasn’t so excited upon unwrapping a sheet and a comforter for his new big-boy bed, it didn’t dent his eagerness to open the next gift.

A characteristic of a close relationship with God is a knowledge that He loves us and wants the best for us. We can look forward to each day with anticipation, trusting Him that the gifts He gives will be for our good.

Lennox’s gratefulness was contagious. It lifted the spirits of everybody there, and it drew us together in joy. His joy was obviously from the heart, and it touched our hearts.

I know the Lord tells us to be thankful in all things, but I’ve never witnessed so clearly how powerful gratefulness can be.

Romans 1:17-30 describes the pathway of turning away from God and being rejected by Him. From it we can see that being thankful is a basic ingredient in our relationship with God.

“Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Rom. 1:21).

Lennox was overflowing with thanksgiving, and we were blessed just watching him rejoice over his gifts.

I could only imagine how blessed God must be when we’re truly, sincerely grateful for the blessings of each day. The Word says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17).

Basic things like our food, shelter, friends, family, health, ability to work, and so forth is endless. We could never list all the blessings of daily life, much less our spiritual blessings, such as salvation, the righteousness, peace, and joy we have in Christ, grace for each day, and on and on.

And yet, how often do we stop to say, “Thank you, Lord.” Do we “ooo” and “ahh” in delight as we unwrap His many blessings? Or are we so busy we don’t even think about their source?

A refugee from Myanmar was asked what she was most grateful for in her very simple life in America. Her immediate, enthusiastic reply was, “running water in the house.” In her hometown, she had to walk a long distance to get water.

Are you like me? I am so abundantly blessed, but I’m often distracted by life’s ups and downs, not making note of how blessed I am.

And yet, I’m aware that when I acknowledge the Lord as the giver of my blessings, I feel closer to Him–just as rejoicing with Lennox made me feel closer to him and to others in the room.

Gratefulness also leads to fellowship with the Lord, and I believe it glorifies Him. I know it does when I overflow with heartfelt gratefulness the way Lennox did.

I’m purposing to have an attitude of gratitude that flows from a grateful heart, is contagious, and is pleasing to my heavenly Father. How about you? Have you learned how to walk in the power of a grateful heart?

Celebrating the Traditions of Thanksgiving

Image result for images of thanksgiving turkey What comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving? A table laden with turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie? A break from work or school? Family gathered from far and near? Football? Black Friday sales?

Many traditions make Thanksgiving special and memorable. However, we might also think of our history. In 1621, Governor Bradford declared a day to offer thanks for good crops and invited an Indian tribe to join the settlers for a three-day feast and games.

The second recorded American Thanksgiving, in 1623, actually began as a time of prayer and fasting. The settlers set aside a day to pray and fast because they desperately needed rain. While they were praying, a gentle rain began to fall. Prayer time turned into an impromptu time of giving thanks.

Do you know of anyone who thinks of fasting in connection with Thanksgiving? After all, it is part of our history of the holiday.

Although various colonies celebrated harvest festivals, it was not until 1777 that all 13 colonies celebrated at the same time. In 1789, George Washington was the first president to declare a Day of Thanksgiving. However, it did not continue to be an annual celebration.

Finally, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave a proclamation, declaring a Day of Thanksgiving. He thought it might help to unite a divided nation. Since then, Thanksgiving has been proclaimed a holiday by every president.

(Did you think of bringing unity as a goal of celebrating Thanksgiving?)

About a month ago, I read a couple of articles that got me to thinking about this particular holiday. They were both about depression. Yes, depression—as unlikely as that seems.

One article suggested that one way to combat depression is to write in a notebook every morning, listing five things you’re grateful for—just five things, every morning. Evidently, practicing gratefulness helps change the mindset from a disheartened viewpoint to having a positive, hopeful outlook on life.

Another article suggested that throughout the day, if you feel down, to stop and think of three things that you are grateful for. It’s difficult to stay down or depressed while feeling grateful. As you focus on the positive—the things you’re thankful for—it drives out the doldrums.

I often get so busy just keeping up with life that I forget to be grateful. After reading those articles, I decided it was a good thing that we celebrate Thanksgiving so we will be reminded to be grateful.

But then I wondered if we get so busy with our traditions that we sometimes forget to give thanks on Thanksgiving. When asked what comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving, do you think of giving thanks?

No other holiday spells out what it is all about—“Thanks-giving”—but we hear it as a noun, a name, a holiday—not an action. What would happen if we responded to the verb in the holiday? What if we celebrated by giving thanks?

Even in the worst circumstances, there are things to be grateful for. When we take our eyes off the problems and focus on the positive, it lifts our spirits and makes the trial easier to bear.

When we go a step further and voice appreciation to those around us for blessing us, it encourages them and makes their lives easier—and brighter.

Relationships are often restored when words of appreciation are spoken. I don’t know whether the holiday brought unity between the North and South in Lincoln’s day, but today, like then, our nation–and the world–is experiencing divisions and tensions on several fronts (political, ideological, racial, and cultural, for example). Wouldn’t it be a blessing if divisions were healed through expressions of gratefulness that cross the divides?

Family gatherings, turkey feasts, parades, and ballgames soon pass. However, if we celebrate Thanksgiving with an attitude of gratitude, it could make a positive difference that would have lasting effect—in lives of others as well as ourselves.

In George Washington’s words, Thanksgiving was to be “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

What would it take to keep that thanks-giving tradition alive? How much more impact would it have to make it a habit that lasts throughout the year?

May you and those you love be blessed as you celebrate Thanks-giving this year!

Give Thanks for the Liver Mush!

Years ago, in a far-away land . . .. Actually, it was years ago, when we had four small children and were at our first pastorate in metropolitan Atlanta.

Finances were tight so we worked hard to stretch our pennies as well as our dollars. Occasional gifts of garden produce and such were greatly appreciated and were viewed as provision from the Lord.

Well, they were mostly greatly appreciated. I struggled with one gift. Jack, one of the men of the church, gifted us with liver mush. Liver was not our family favorite. Furthermore, it had been ground up and it was mush.

Yes, mush. And I’m a texture person.

I didn’t know how to cook it, so that liver lived in the freezer for several months, taking u Image result for image looking inside a freezer p space. Every time I saw it, I felt guilty because it was God’s provision. I ought to appreciate it and use it.

Finally, I pulled it out to cook. I couldn’t google, “How do you cook liver mush?” According to recipes I find on the internet, I didn’t do it right, but we didn’t know the difference.

It was part of God’s provision, so we ate it. Everybody ate some, because that’s what we required in our house.

I can’t say we enjoyed it, but we did give thanks before the meal. And, I was grateful for freezer space, and that it was gone.

Within a week or two, Jack gave us another package of liver mush. It too stayed frozen for several months before I got up the courage to prepare it. Jack seemed to know when our freezer lacked liver mush. Once again, within a very short time, we were given more.

It was long ago and memory is not precise. He probably only brought it three times, four at the most, but it was so consistently happened just after we’d consumed the stuff, that it seems it was many more.

Maybe we needed to learn to eat what was put before us or to be gracious and grateful in all things. But, we’ll probably never know why the Lord kept gifting us with liver mush—or how Jack always knew when to bring another package. Maybe we just needed a memory that would bring chuckles year later.

Eating liver mush did have one advantage. Several years later, when we were in a situation where we had no say over what we ate, I frequently would have chosen differently. However, thanks to liver mush, I knew that the pain of eating something unwanted passes quickly and is not so bad as the dread of anticipation.

I could usually be assured that within 30 minutes or so, the ordeal would be over. With that in mind, I could give thanks for my food. It was a choice.

Some days it was more difficult took longer to make that choice, but I was acutely aware that gratefulness for my food was my choice no matter what was set before me.

It was as if the Lord wrote on the wall, “This is a test! Will you be thankful for my provision?”

I hadn’t thought of liver mush in years, but it recently came up in conversation during the week a good friend buried her husband. Another friend was diagnosed with cancer, and another learned that his wife wanted a divorce because she loves someone else.

In comparison to such pain, liver mush is insignificant. It isn’t even so bad as a mosquito bite, that continues to itch and cause discomfort. It’s nothing.

But, I believe that liver mush helped me in ways I never dreamed of. I could have thrown it out, but I didn’t because I viewed it as part of God’s provision. Instead, I worked at being grateful for it.

It wasn’t easy, and I put it off, but eventually, I embraced the “hard” of life. I ate it and served it to the family.

Because of liver mush–and other things, I’m sure–I’ve learned that there is life, and grace for life, in seeing everything as coming through God’s hands.

He isn’t necessarily the author of those hard things, but, like Job, we can see that the Lord allowed the hard things to happen and we can choose to look to Him in the midst of them. We choose our attitude.

Because sin has entered the world, hard things happen. As we choose to thank God and lean on Him, He gives us strength and grace to endure them and even to choose our response..

Like with the liver mush, we don’t always know the purpose of the things that come our way. Indeed, we may never understand the why. We also might question the timing.

However, if we can force ourselves to cling to the one who made us, He will help us give thanks, and will carry us through the difficulty.

It doesn’t mean it will be easy, but we can find peace in the midst of the storm because we will know that He is with us.

To prepare for those big life-changing events, we need to look for God in our normal, every-day life. We need to train ourselves to be thankful for the liver mush that comes our way.

It’s Hard to Be Angry When You’re Praying

“It’s hard to be angry when you’re praying.” At least that’s what somebody said last week without any further discussion of the subject. I tend to agree.

Anger is counterfeit power. We resort to it when we don’t like something or we want something to happen and we’re not big enough to bring it about on our own. We express anger to puff ourselves up so we will be bigger and more powerful.

Anger and prayer don’t mix well. Anger arises from self effort, whereas prayer acknowledges a need for help.

When praying, we’re connected to the source of strength and power. We don’t need to make ourselves bigger or to make things happen, because we have a direct line to the One who can take care of it. Indeed, when we’re in His presence, our puffed up attempt to be bigger seems shabby and out of place.

While in prayerful communion with the Lord, we recognize His sovereignty, power, mercy, love, and faithfulness. Our focus is on Him and His goodness. We choose to trust Him, and entrust our need into His hands—including the situation that angered us.

If we spent more time in prayer, would it affect our struggle against anger?

Yes, it’s hard to be angry when you’re praying, but in the midst of a busy life, it’s hard to consciously be in prayer all the time.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, God tells us to “pray without ceasing.” In the same sentence, He also said, “Rejoice always” and “in everything give thanks (vv. 16, 18). If we practiced all three directives, it would surely eliminate anger over trivial matters, such as traffic, and would go a long way toward helping us not become angry.

It would help because all three—prayer, rejoicing, and giving thanks—take our focus off ourselves and turn our eyes toward Jesus. When our eyes are on Jesus, our hearts are filled with joy and thanksgiving, which leads to prayer.

That sounds good, but it’s hard to walk it out consistently. Sometimes it’s really hard. At least for me it is.

I believe that the secret is the Great Commandment. We are to love the Lord our God with all our body, soul, mind, and strength. If we do, if He is truly preeminent in our lives, thankfulness, rejoicing, and continual prayer will flow from that love relationship.

I’m not there yet, but I’ve experienced seasons of close fellowship with God as well as seasons when my life was filled with other things. It is definitely easier to pray without ceasing when walking more closely with the Lord.

His love and care is there all the time, but when we draw near, we’re more open to receiving the Lord, as well as receiving the grace to focus on Him and to love Him in return, thus resulting in less anger.

It is hard to be angry when praying. However, while striving to pray more, one of my primary prayers will be asking the Lord to help me to love Him more—to know His love and to love Him in return.

Through God’s love, we’ll receive the grace to walk in righteousness.

Do you experience less anger when you’re walking closely with the Lord?

Robert & Kay Camenisch encouraging and equipping relationships