12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 5

Thank God especially in the midst of adversity

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God 

in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Giving thanks while you’re going through a trial is not an easy thing to do. How many of us praise God when things are rough? Do we stop to sing praises and speak words of gratefulness when all our lives seem to be crumbling all around us?

No. I know that my natural tendency is not to do this. Once the trial is over and I can see God’s hand in it, I am quick to praise and thank God for the things He has taught me and the way He brought me through. But during the trial? Sadly, no.

This verse in 1 Thessalonians tells us to give thanks IN everything! Not FOR everything, but IN everything! Big difference. Giving thanks FOR everything is usually after the fact, but giving thanks IN everything is praising God while the troubles and trials are swirling around us and threatening to drown us, and yet, we are to give thanks IN them! 

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoice evermore.

If we want to rejoice, we have to be thankful. Thanksgiving is essential for rejoicing to happen. We can’t possibly ‘rejoice evermore’ if we’re grumbling and complaining.

So why should we give thanks IN everything? Why not wait til afer the hard time has passed and we can see more clearly? Then we can thank God with a heart of gratitude. Well, firstly, because God commands it. But there are other reasons as well.

Gratitude to God in our difficult times gives our witness to a lost world a greater impact. If we’re going through a hard time and we are still joyful and praising God, what does that say to those around us? It speaks volumes. It shows that we have something or someone greater than our problems that we are trusting in. And when people ask us how we can be so cheerful despite what’s going on, we have an answer!

Another reason to give thanks is that thankfulness replaces anxiety with peace. 

Philippians 4:6-7

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When we let our requests be made known to God with thanksgiving, God’s peace will fill our hearts. This word “keep” is the Greek word phrouréō, which means to hem in, to protect, to mount guard as a sentinel. So, God keeps our hearts and minds. He protects, He watches over, He guards. When we are thankful in the midst of adversity, God brings peace. The kind of peace that only He can bring. Although we may feel anxious all of the sudden, we don’t have to stay that way. If we continue to pray and give thanks to God, His peace will keep us. The peace that passes all understanding. I love that. We can’t even understand the kind of peace that God can bring. It’s beyond our human minds and yet it’s the peace that God gives.

Another reason to be praising God in the midst of adversity is that it focuses our attention on God rather than on our circumstances.  If we are continually fixing our eyes on our problems, the pain becomes unbearable, the situation seems hopeless, peace eludes us. But thanksgiving shifts our focus to the Lord. And by focusing on Him, it reminds us of promises in the Bible that we can cling to. Things we know for certain. 

We are not alone

God loves us unconditionally

We are eternally secure

The Lord walks with us

God will bring us through

God will work through the hard time to make beauty from ashes

It is for our good and His glory

God sees the bigger picture and He is in control

Gratitude can energize us physically, emotionally and spiritually. When we work on having a heart of gratefulness and a spirit of thanksgiving, despite the pain and disappointment draining us at times, we focus on God and He will revitalize us. Just being in His presence and offering Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving, will renew us spiritually, physically and emotionally. We are able to keep on. Things look brighter. The clouds are lifted.

But a word of warning. This grateful heart is not a once off thing. You can’t just have a season of praise and then the rest of your life is easy and you glide through your trials. No. It is a lifetime practice of giving thanks to God. We are human and we all have a sinful nature. We are not perfect and we have to be continually working on our attitudes and our responses to different situations. Each and every trial brings it problems and causes pain, but if we focus on giving thanks IN everything, God will bring peace.

Just when you think you’ve got it, you realize you don’t. But don’t be discouraged, God is always there and He is waiting for you. He longs to hear your words of praise.

Developing a heart of gratefulness is a lifelong practice and it needs work. A continual looking to God and a dedicated love for His Word.

Study the Word. Look for the promises it gives.

Read it. Learn it. Share it. Love it. Apply it. Live it. 

John 16:33

 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;

 I have overcome the world.

Another Grandbaby

and 

Another Toyota 

to add to our growing family

Yes. The secret is out! 

Emilee and Laine are expecting our third

grandchild! YIPEEEEE!!

(and their first little one, of course :)

Exciting stuff. We look forward to a little

Hockey bub to cuddle. 

And in other news, we have another 

Toyota Landcruiser to add to our 

extended family's list of Toyota dominance!

Emilee and Laine have bought themselves

a 100 series Landcruiser.

We are buying Emilee's ute off her,

as it is very helpful with our freight deliveries

and she will need a more 'family' friendly car

from now on. 

So, go Toyota! once again. 

New Blog! 

Just a heads up to all you ladies out there!

If you've been following this blog for a while,

you might like to subscribe to a new

 blog that I have just begun. 

This new blog is particularly directed 

at Christian Women of all ages. 

It is called Learn. Live. Love. Share.

https://learnliveloveshare.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to check it out, there is a link over 

on the right side of this page that will take you there.

Once you're there, you can follow by email,

that way, whenever I post something, you will

get an email to your inbox. 

I pray that it will be a blessing to you and 

you will encouraged in your walk with the Lord.

God Bless, 

Jill

12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 4

3. Look for the hidden blessings

Colossians 4:2 

Continue in prayer, and watch 

in the same with thanksgiving;

Sometimes in our lives, we grumble and complain at the blessings God gives us, as they’re not what we would have chosen for ourselves. God’s blessings often come disguised as pain and suffering and trials. We only see the pain and suffering, but God is doing a refining process. God is working on the condition of the heart. The blessing is obscured from view until such a time as God chooses to reveal it or as our hearts are in tune with Him more closely, 

and we can see His hand at work.  

In Colossians, Paul exhorts the brethren to be watchful and be alert. He encourages them to be earnest towards, to persevere, to be constantly diligent and to be vigilant and to keep awake! The Greek word for watch in this verse in kin to another Greek word that has the idea of 

wakening from sleep and rising up.

Yes, we all need to wake up! Wake up to God’s blessings, despite how they look on the outside. They don’t always look like a blessing. They are hidden gems. God’s way of teaching us and helping us to grow. We can either become better or become bitter during trials. It’s a choice. And it’s our choice.

And did you notice that we are to watch with thanksgiving? We are to watch in gratitude as an act of worship to God, with a thankful heart.

We find ourselves complaining about our physical appearance, our size, our job, our level of intelligence, our possessions. But God knows that not everything we desire will be to our benefit. He gives us what we need.

When I was going through a dark and lonely trial last year, I couldn’t see any benefit in it. I couldn’t see any blessings. All I saw was darkness. But my God saw blessing. My God saw a way to refine me and draw me closer to Him. He looked down and saw someone in need of an even deeper relationship with Him. There was blessing despite the burden.

Psalm 68:19

 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits,

 even the God of our salvation. Selah.

This verse in Psalms tells us that he DAILY gives us benefits. Daily. Every day. The problem is that our definition of something profitable for us, is vastly different to God’s definition. His ways are not our ways. 

His thoughts not our thoughts. 

There are hidden blessings under every cloud. God has a purpose for the rain and the snow. Rain may disappoint, but that comes from our limited knowledge. God sees the bigger picture. He sees the reason for the rain. 

Isaiah 55:10-13

 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, 

and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,

 and maketh it bring forth and bud, 

that it may give seed to the sower, 

and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth

 out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, 

but it shall accomplish that which I please, 

and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: 

the mountains and the hills shall break forth

 before you into singing,

 and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,

 and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: 

and it shall be to the LORD for a name,

 for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

There are a lot of spiritual applications in these verses that I would like to explore more at another time, but for now, just know that God has a purpose for the rain and the snow, and He has a purpose for your trial. He showers us with blessings, it’s just that sometimes they are hidden and we might 

have to dig a little to find them.

 We need to look for those hidden blessings. We need to stay alert to the blessings God gives and then remember to praise Him for them. God is always giving us reasons to praise and worship Him. A grateful heart will rejoice and be thankful.

Isaiah 61:10

 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, 

my soul shall be joyful in my God; 

for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,

 he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,

 and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

We have so much to be thankful for. Stop and look for those hidden blessings, and then take the time to thank the Lord for them, giving Him all the honour and praise that is due His name. Develop a grateful heart

 and watch and pray with thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers and Cockatoos

My sweetie brought me flowers! 

Dave knows that I love these 'weeds'

that grow in abundance in the tabledrains

along the side of the road. 

These sweet little flowers are called

Hairy Mulla Mulla.

They grow on stony ground or red sand.

(I'm sure there's a lesson in that)

Apparently it's an ephemeral herb that appears after rain. 

Well, whatever they are, I love them!

And I especially love them when Dave stops the truck

to pick them for me. Aww. 

 And here's a couple of snaps of some cheeky

cockatoos in the tip top of a very dead,

very hollow, palm tree in our yard. 

I'm so thankful for the little things, 

like weed-like flowers and noisy cockatoos,

that bring a smile to my face. 

Nothing is insignificant to God, 

the Creator of the universe. 

No matter how great or small. 

Job 12:7-10 

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; 

and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: 

and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD

 hath wrought this? 

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, 

and the breath of all mankind.

Recent Whirlwind Trip

 A couple of weeks back,

Dave and I were able to take a

brief trip back to Malanda for Dad's birthday.

This was the first time Dave has been back 

since we left the Tablelands 6 years ago!

We flew on Air North from Darwin to Gove

then onto Cairns. I always love to sit by the window and 

happily snap away at the beauty below. 

And this time was even better as we flew into

Gove, which we'd never been to before. 

Beautiful country.

Then we headed to Palm Cove for a 

very brief one night stay at one of the resorts 

Dave and I used to visit annually in celebration of 

our honeymoon. Awww. ❤

We even got to try a decadent dessert

of deep fried Snickers wrapped in a crepe

and served with amazingly creamy 

caramel ice-cream and edible flowers! Mmmm

Besides the room smelling mouldy and the weather

being cold and wet and windy, it was nice to

have a night on our own and walk down the beach. 

We were able to go out to eat with ALL the family

at Obis in Yungaburra. 

My brother was able to visit from Brisbane 

and we finally got to meet our niece-in-law, Abi

and adorable little great nephew, Paddy. 

We had a lovely time and ate some delicious food. 

Dave and I even had the pleasure? of helping Lauren

clean the church on Saturday! Just like old times,

except daughter was making Daddy vacuum instead

 of Daddy making daughter vacuum. 

Despite the clouds and wet weather, 

we did see some sunshine and it was pretty. 

Although I was very happy to get back to our

beautiful warm and sunny, dry weather! 

And of course one of the highlights for me

was getting to spend a couple hours with

my 'other' family. These beautiful children

are growing so fast and my sweet little Josh

has grown from an adorable, cheeky, little ratbag

into a fine, young man. God is so good. 

It was great to be with ALL the family,

but all too soon, it was over and we had to 

be on our way home. A whirlwind trip

but it was worth every minute! 

12 Disciplines of a Grateful Heart

Part 3

2. Give thanks for the small and ordinary things

In looking at the 12 disciplines, we’ve covered the first one, which was to give thanks to God independent of feelings. In this 2^nd discipline, we are told to give thanks for the small things.

Often, we forget to praise God for the ordinary things in our lives. We don’t think too much about the little blessings we receive every day. They seem so ‘ordinary’ that we don’t give them much thought. But God loves to hear us offer prayers of thanksgiving, regardless of the size of the blessing.

We receive small blessings so often and so regularly from God, that we can actually become unappreciative of them. Familiarity breeds contempt.  We don’t even think of them as blessings. The sun coming up each morning, the cool breeze on a summers’ day, the laughter of a child, the song of a bird, a picturesque sunset, the traffic light turning green when you’re on your way home after a long day, the parking space right in front of the store, the extra blanket on the bed on a cold winters’ morning.

There is so much to be thankful for that our list would be endless if we sat down to write one. I find it a good habit to keep a gratitude journal where I can jot down things I’m thankful for every day. It keeps my focus on God’s goodness and helps me to praise him more regularly.  

God speaks of small things, like the sparrow, and the hairs of our head. That’s an interesting one, thanking God for the hair on our head!

Matthew 10:29-30

 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

I imagine that when God healed the ten lepers, and only one returned, the one that returned to glorify God gave thanks for his ten finger and ten toes. Fingers and toes that now worked as they should and caused him no pain and suffering anymore. Do we give thanks for our fingers and toes?

Luke 17:15-16

. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks

The word ordinary means, to have no distinctive features or something that is commonplace or standard. Well, there are a lot of commonplace things that we ought to be grateful to God for. God is not just the God of big things, he’s the God of small things. Ordinary things. Unnoticed things.

💗 Sisters 💗

Miriam loves her little sister Lydia.

After her initial hesitation at this new

little being in her house, she has accepted

little Lydia and helps mummy with what will

soon become her playmate and friend. 

Taking these photos reminded me of a photo

of Lauren and Abbi when they were around the

same age. So sweet. 

Miriam Turns 2 💗

 Precious little Miriam turned 2 on Sunday.

Boy, has time flown! 

She was very pleased with her new sweet dress

that her wonderful Grandma (that's me), made her! 

And a matching dress for her little dolly too, of course. 

Here's a comparison photo from her 1st birthday

to her 2nd birthday. What a big girl she is now. 

Grandpa helped her unwrap her presents, which was very exciting

as it was a new experience for her. 

Having adoring Auntie helps in the present department! 

She loves her little Alphabet puzzle we bought her

and has not stopped playing with it and has

learnt almost all the letters already! 

And the star of the show (besides Miriam of course),

was the most amazing, incredible, magnificent 

cake that Abbi made! All hand piped icing flowers

and a black forest cake at that! 

Unbelievable and tasty too!  

Miriam was very excited to have her very own

birthday cake with candles. We didn't even have a chance

to tell her to blow the candles out, or show her what to do,

when she rushed in and did it before we were ready.

So, we had to relight them and have her do it again, 

so Grandma could take photos and we could sing. 

We had a lovely roast dinner and 

delicious cake and coffee. 

A beautiful afternoon spent cuddling our sweet little girls. 

And now, it's time for another photo shoot with little Lydia. 

She's growing so quickly now too.