Recently it struck me how God must feel when I am not appreciative.
I had been mulling over an instance, feeling a little unappreciated for something I had put a lot of effort in to...for the curious amongst my friends wondering what it was? Actually, I can't remember which one of u had fallen short of my good graces at that particular point ;) ...love keeps no record of wrong. One can sometimes experience ingratitude when the recipients are clueless about the amount of your heart & effort that has gone into into what they have received, am sure all or most of us - self included have been guilty of same. Never the less I was probably half way through my thoughts ... how I was not going to over-invest myself next time et al when I had an epiphany and I heard the thought 'if you feel like this, how then must the Lord feel?' How many of His benefits are we benefactors of but yet fail to appreciate, sometimes we don't even notice all the little things He does, let alone acknowledge; needless to say my case seemed rather trivial afterwards.
I started thinking about all the things He does just for our benefit, how He holds it all together...the rain, the sun, morning dew, trees, flowers, birds chirping..the beauty of it all. Whao! He puts all that together. How I love Saturday mornings and in particular those ones where I get a chance to get up early and head to a park or am out in the quiet streets before most people are up and out..because then I can hear nature and the beauty of it all hits me; and I am not particularly outdoorsy (well, except on saturday mornings within the city or on holiday in the country :) but even I stop and notice how beautiful nature is.
I have a CD titled Songs of Angels I by Freddy Hayler (luv it, luv it & luv it), where he sings and describes a vision he had where he beheld the throne of God and he shares about how multiple commands go out from the LORD's mouth, how He speaks in multiple voices and the angels move responding to each simultaneous command...and you can just guess who the recipients of those commands are..you and I, Rev 1:15b "and His voice as the sound of many waters"
Look around the earth...it takes love to "sit down", orchestrate, design, create & order the beauty around us that we see, creating something just for the comfort & pleasure of another...think about it..it takes heart...those times that you have gone out of your way for someone else, what motivates you wouldn't it be love..some form of care or goodwill? Everyday we see the Lord's goodwill around us, everyday.
Everyday something new that is good happens on the earth because God has put His love into it happening and ordered it; the day He folds this earth it will also be because His love has gone into something more beautiful for you if you will receive it.
There is so much we often take for granted that didn't just happen, Somebody with a heart of kindness and love put their love into giving you water, food, rain, sun...the heart behind it is LOVE and even if that was not enough He became a man so that mercy will triumph over judgement concerning you.
Genesis 1 vs 26 -30 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Acts 14 vs 7: Yet He has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."
Matthew 5 vs 45b: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust
2 Corinthians 9 vs 12: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God
Luke 17 vs 17-18: Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
How can we show our thanks - by giving Him praise, saying thank you Lord..ref text above, being appreciative from our hearts..if you notice the text above only the foreigner came back to say thanks, where were the children - the Israelite lepers that also received healing? Should we as children then take the grace of our Father for granted?
We can also show our gratitude by being a blessing to others like the Corinthian Church in chapter 9 vs 12...you can read the entire chapter and 8...they were meeting the needs of the Church in Jerusalem ..they performed a service of giving out of their substance to bless the Church in Jerusalem and that act of service & gift was regarded as a form thanks to the Lord.
Abel in Genesis 4 brought the fattest portion of his substance as an offering to God and that is something I really want to attain to...give God my best. The best of me O Lord, help me to give You the very best of me.
David said he would not give God something which cost Him nothing. 1 Samuel 24 vs 24: But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
Father I offer my thanks to you...imperfect I am but I am loved perfectly...amazing love, how can this be?
I had been mulling over an instance, feeling a little unappreciated for something I had put a lot of effort in to...for the curious amongst my friends wondering what it was? Actually, I can't remember which one of u had fallen short of my good graces at that particular point ;) ...love keeps no record of wrong. One can sometimes experience ingratitude when the recipients are clueless about the amount of your heart & effort that has gone into into what they have received, am sure all or most of us - self included have been guilty of same. Never the less I was probably half way through my thoughts ... how I was not going to over-invest myself next time et al when I had an epiphany and I heard the thought 'if you feel like this, how then must the Lord feel?' How many of His benefits are we benefactors of but yet fail to appreciate, sometimes we don't even notice all the little things He does, let alone acknowledge; needless to say my case seemed rather trivial afterwards.
I started thinking about all the things He does just for our benefit, how He holds it all together...the rain, the sun, morning dew, trees, flowers, birds chirping..the beauty of it all. Whao! He puts all that together. How I love Saturday mornings and in particular those ones where I get a chance to get up early and head to a park or am out in the quiet streets before most people are up and out..because then I can hear nature and the beauty of it all hits me; and I am not particularly outdoorsy (well, except on saturday mornings within the city or on holiday in the country :) but even I stop and notice how beautiful nature is.
I have a CD titled Songs of Angels I by Freddy Hayler (luv it, luv it & luv it), where he sings and describes a vision he had where he beheld the throne of God and he shares about how multiple commands go out from the LORD's mouth, how He speaks in multiple voices and the angels move responding to each simultaneous command...and you can just guess who the recipients of those commands are..you and I, Rev 1:15b "and His voice as the sound of many waters"
Look around the earth...it takes love to "sit down", orchestrate, design, create & order the beauty around us that we see, creating something just for the comfort & pleasure of another...think about it..it takes heart...those times that you have gone out of your way for someone else, what motivates you wouldn't it be love..some form of care or goodwill? Everyday we see the Lord's goodwill around us, everyday.
Everyday something new that is good happens on the earth because God has put His love into it happening and ordered it; the day He folds this earth it will also be because His love has gone into something more beautiful for you if you will receive it.
There is so much we often take for granted that didn't just happen, Somebody with a heart of kindness and love put their love into giving you water, food, rain, sun...the heart behind it is LOVE and even if that was not enough He became a man so that mercy will triumph over judgement concerning you.
Genesis 1 vs 26 -30 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Acts 14 vs 7: Yet He has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."
Matthew 5 vs 45b: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust
2 Corinthians 9 vs 12: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God
Luke 17 vs 17-18: Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
How can we show our thanks - by giving Him praise, saying thank you Lord..ref text above, being appreciative from our hearts..if you notice the text above only the foreigner came back to say thanks, where were the children - the Israelite lepers that also received healing? Should we as children then take the grace of our Father for granted?
We can also show our gratitude by being a blessing to others like the Corinthian Church in chapter 9 vs 12...you can read the entire chapter and 8...they were meeting the needs of the Church in Jerusalem ..they performed a service of giving out of their substance to bless the Church in Jerusalem and that act of service & gift was regarded as a form thanks to the Lord.
Abel in Genesis 4 brought the fattest portion of his substance as an offering to God and that is something I really want to attain to...give God my best. The best of me O Lord, help me to give You the very best of me.
David said he would not give God something which cost Him nothing. 1 Samuel 24 vs 24: But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
Father I offer my thanks to you...imperfect I am but I am loved perfectly...amazing love, how can this be?
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