Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.         Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT))
My friend posed this question today: it is important to say thank you to God but sometimes I wonder if I am saying it from my head (knowing I must) or from my heart (really meaning it).
And so I am thinking about this and asking the Holy Spirit to examine my heart.
Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday. It is considered the last Sunday of the Church year. Next Sunday begins Advent. With Thanksgiving coming this week, many of the songs that we sang yesterday had to do with thanks. I wept as I sang.
There are so many people and things that bring thanks to my lips. But yesterday there was only one that brought more emotion than I could contain. It was Jesus. As I closed my eyes, it was like a slide show of my life began to play. The slides are still playing. Moments, big and small, keep coming to my mind. Jesus, my Savior. He came and gave for me. Death has no power over me because of Him. The economy has no power over me. Terrorists have no power over me. Rejection has no power. Loneliness has no power. I can do nothing by myself so the strength that I have is from Jesus. The courage for each day is from Jesus. The love and compassion for each day is from Jesus. And the mercy, freely given to me, is passed on to others because of Jesus. It is in the giving of thanks that I remember well the mission I have been given: to be an ambassador for Jesus.
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.      Micah 6:8 (NLT)
Are there people that you are going to sit across the dinner table on Thursday who need Jesus? Will you be speaking to hurting people? Will there be someone who who is going through situations of which they have no answers or are confused about what to do? Many times it is those to whom we love the most that we feel the most uncertain on how we can get them to see the freedom through Jesus. And so we talk and argue and quote many verses of Scripture to them. And it doesn’t seem to work. At best they pat us on the head. At worse they run the other way.
God didn’t tell me to pull out all my high school debate team skills. He said to just live my life in front of others, doing what will be an example. By example will I testify that it is Jesus that I serve and am thankful for all that He has given me.
This week I am going to be studying about all that I am thankful. But today, it’s going to be about Jesus. Teach me more, LORD.
this was so beautiful, thank you for sharing. i’ve been struggling with depression for over 30 years of my life. only about 4-5 days out of the month am i “normal” and able to see Jesus for who He is and what He’s done. your blog made me teary-eyed. i also express similar sentiments in my journal – that the economy, our jobs, our families aren’t our “source” – that the only SOURCE in our lives is Jesus Christ our Lord.
BLESSINGS to you that Jesus will continue to be so very present in your life — like a friend who sits down and shares a cup of tea.